Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Our TEXAS Adoption Journey - Part 1

It's time...time for all you to hear our story of Halle Grace Benner. This story began a VERY LONG time ago....about four years ago really. Aaron and I had been trying to have a baby...it wasn't working and we were sad, disappointed and just plain mad about it all. BUT, before Aaron and I even were engaged we had talked about adoption. I have two cousins that are adopted, Aaron's Auntie Joy had given up a child (Sandy) for adoption...she is now a very important part of our family. AND...our dear friend Dena chose life for her daughter, Julia, when she chose adoption. So, adoption was not foreign to us. And I had already had many issues with my cycle and just had this "feeling' things might not be that easy. It was easy for us, choosing adoption that it is. It seemed natural. So, we set out to adopt. We did some research on adoption and as a lot of you may know...it was thoroughly overwhelming. Not an easy task. Along came "HIS Kids, Our Homes". This is an organization started by some dear friends of our's, Dave & Carrie Blaske. They attend our church and we are now in a small group with them. HIS Kids Our Homes was started to partner along side families in our community that are needing information about adoption & fostering. They also provide so much support to the families...even if it's just a kind word, hug or sweet note. Through HIS Kids Our Homes we met our amazingly wonderful social worker, JoAnn. She is the very best!! I'm not just saying that either. We truly loved working with her. When we met JoAnn we had just finished filling out our "pre" application for Christian Homes. We chose this agency because of our dear friends the "Thompson's". Dan and Cris have three African American children they adopted through domestic adoption. Their youngest, Ezekiel, was adopted through Christian Homes. We hadn't even been approved to begin the process. Here started our journey. We were approved and began filling out what seemed like MOUNTAINS of paperwork. Both Aaron and I procrastinate....I know, it's not a good quality to have, but...it's true. So, finally, one Sunday I just sat down at the kitchen table and began filling it all out. A lot of it was easy...initial here, fill in this blank. BUT...then we got to the hard stuff...the dreaded autobiography...we had one to fill out for JoAnn and one for Christian Homes. We did not want to mess up on this one. This is what the birth mother would read and through this she would choose us. WOW...that was some task. YES, we saved copies of EVERYTHING! In fact, we have everything scanned on our computer. On September 5, 2008 we were officially approved for the adoption. The agency had received all the necessary paperwork and reports. Our adoptive study had been completed and final approval was given for our family to adopt through Christian Homes. Such a milestone of this journey. AND...then on November 13, 2008 we received the "call" from Bob at Christian Homes. You can imagine my excitement when I looked at my cell phone buzzing at work and saw "Texas" on the caller ID. At the time I certainly didn't know very many people in Texas that would be calling me. It was the "call" we'd been waiting and longing for.....after than initial conversation with Bob I had to call Aaron which I did immediately. I think he almost dropped his phone. We planned a phone meeting at his work in about a 1/2 hour. After the second phone call we knew....Halle Grace was to be our daughter. This is the very first picture we received of her. Seriously, who couldn't love this little girl????

These pictures followed from her Foster Family.............................we LOVE them!!!!